MotoGP, technology and dreams: Romagnoli returns to "his" ITIS in Urbino and captivates 300 students

Daniele Romagnoli as a professor for a day at his former school: a very special lesson for the younger generations.

From MotoGP back to school for a truly out-of-the-ordinary class for the 300 students involved. Daniele Romagnoli, currently a crew chief at Aprilia, technical manager with Jorge Martin at Pramac-Ducati in the year of the world title, returned to ITIS "Enrico Mattei" Urbino, this time wearing the hat of professor for a day. His journey that led him to the World Championship began right in the Electronics classrooms of the Marche institute, as Romagnoli himself recalled without hiding a certain emotion for this exciting dive into the past, full of memories, which kept the attending students glued for almost two hours.

Romagnoli took his first pioneering steps at MBA (Morbidelli Benelli Armi), making his debut as a mechanic in 1993. In the same room of the Urbino institute was also present Angelo Angeli, none other than a prominent figure of the historic MBA of Sant'Angelo in Vado, and the inventor of innovative solutions that have marked 50 years of racing. Not only that: together with the head of the institute and Angeli, the Aprilia technician then visited the MBA museum in Sant'Angelo in Vado, also revisiting the 125 two-stroke engine with the first electronic control unit he created.

Returning to Romagnoli’s career, the turning point in his path came with the switch to telemetry in 2002: thus began an over twenty-year story that started at Yamaha and led him to work with legends such as Carlos Checa and Jorge Lorenzo. In 2015 we note his arrival at Pramac-Ducati, first with Danilo Petrucci and then Jorge Martin, with whom he achieved the stunning MotoGP title in 2024.

The warmth of the new generations was not lacking; in fact, at the end of the class they gathered around Romagnoli to talk both about technical topics and about the MotoGP paddock, making the most of the opportunity to have in the classroom someone with such experience. Romagnoli did not hold back: on the paddock side, he shared many anecdotes about the riders and life in the paddocks, technical and human challenges, behind-the-scenes work, present and future, given the upcoming rule change in 2027.

There was also a technical discussion with the Electronics students from the P.F.I. team, after which he made himself available to test a small car prototype created to participate in the national E-Horizon F1 RC 1/10 competition. To conclude the trip down memory lane, the Aprilia technician visited the laboratories where his passion grew. "An enormous emotion," he admitted, wishing the students that one day they would work in racing departments. "It’s an activity that keeps you alive. At 59, I’m competing with young engineers who are incredibly smart; you always have to be at the level."